2206. zaqan

Lexical Summary

zaqan: Beard

Original Word: זָקָן
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: zaqan
Pronunciation: zah-KAHN
Phonetic Spelling: (zaw-kawn')
KJV: beard
NASB: beard, beards
Word Origin: [from H2204 (זָקֵן - old)]

1. the beard (as indicating age)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

beard

From zaqen; the beard (as indicating age) -- beard.

see HEBREW zaqen

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
beard, chin
NASB Translation
beard (14), beards (5).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

זָקָן noun masculine^{2Samuel 10:5} + and feminine^{Isaiah 15:2} + chin, beard (Assyrian zi‡nu, Asrb^{Annals iv. 29}; Arabic , Aramaic דְּקַן, ) — absolute ׳ז Leviticus 13:20 +; construct זְקַן 2 Samuel 20:9 +; suffix זְקָנִי Ezra 9:3; זְקָנֶ֑ךָ Leviticus 19:27; Ezekiel 5:1; זְקָנוֺ 1 Samuel 21:14 2t.; זְקַנְכֶם 2 Samuel 10:5; 1 Chronicles 19:5; זְקָנָם 2 Samuel 10:4; Leviticus 21:5; never plural —

1 chin (opposed to ראֹשׁ, top of head) Leviticus 13:29,30; Leviticus 14:9 (all P), 2 Samuel 20:9; Ezekiel 5:1; compare also 1 Samuel 21:14; Psalm 133:4 (where however chin as bearded may be meant); chin, or lower jaw, of lion and bear 1 Samuel 17:35.

2 beard, as growing (צמח) 2 Samuel 10:5 = 1 Chronicles 19:5; as cut off Isaiah 7:20 (ספה), Isaiah 15:2 = Jeremiah 48:37 (גרע); compare מְגֻלְּחֵי זָקָן Jeremiah 41:5; 2 Samuel 10:4 (גלח); שׂער ראשׁי זּזְקָנִי Ezra 9:3; here belongs פאת זקנ(ךׅ Leviticus 19:27; Leviticus 21:5 (both H; opposed to ראשׁ).

Topical Lexicon

Definition and Scope of Usage

זָקָן designates the beard, the naturally grown facial hair of a man. Nineteen occurrences form a coherent biblical witness that the beard is more than a physical feature; it functions as a marker of holiness, dignity, masculinity, honor, and covenant community identity.

Ceremonial and Legal Regulations

Levitical legislation treats the beard with the same gravity assigned to every visible sign of covenant holiness.
• Leviticus 13:29–30 and 14:9 place the beard under priestly inspection for skin disease and prescribe ritual shaving in the cleansing rite, underscoring that holiness reaches to the outermost aspects of the person.
• Leviticus 19:27 commands, “You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard”. The prohibition guards Israel from Canaanite mourning customs and magical practices that mutilated the beard, protecting Israel’s distinct witness.
• Leviticus 21:5 applies an even stricter standard to priests: “The priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or make cuts in their bodies”. The priest’s unblemished beard mirrored his whole-bodied consecration before the LORD.

Beards in Israelite Culture

Honor and masculinity were publicly assessed by the condition of a man’s beard.
• 2 Samuel 10:4–5; 1 Chronicles 19:5 record Hanun’s public humiliation of David’s envoys: “shaved off half of each man’s beard”. David’s instruction—“Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back” (2 Samuel 10:5)—shows the beard’s role in restoring honor.
• 1 Samuel 17:35 presents David seizing a lion “by its beard,” describing a courageous grip on the creature’s most identified feature.
• 1 Samuel 21:13 portrays David feigning madness as “his saliva ran down his beard”, because a soiled beard announced irrationality and disgrace.
• 2 Samuel 20:9 depicts Joab’s deceitful grasp of Amasa’s beard as a cultural gesture of greeting turned into a weapon of betrayal, proving how the customary touch of beards could convey trust or treachery.

Prophetic Symbolism

Prophets utilized the beard as a sign-act to convey national judgment.
• Isaiah 7:20 warns that the Assyrians would act “with a razor… to shave the head and the hair of the legs, and it will also remove the beard,” depicting total subjugation.
• Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37 speak of Moab “cutting off the beard” in despair, showing that forced or voluntary shaving equaled grief and shame.
• Ezekiel 5:1 commands the prophet to shave his head and beard with a sword to dramatize Jerusalem’s coming division, exile, and destruction.

Lamentation and Personal Mourning

Ezra 9:3 records the reformer tearing hair from head and beard when confronted with covenant unfaithfulness: visible self-humbling expressing corporate guilt before God. Beards become an outward canvas upon which inward sorrow is displayed.

Liturgical Anointing

Psalm 133:2 celebrates unity among God’s people by picturing the consecrating oil “running down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron”. The beard becomes the conduit of priestly anointing, symbolizing the overflow of divine blessing from the head of the high priest onto the community he represents.

Historical and Ministerial Significance

1. Holiness and Separation: Regulations concerning the beard distinguish Israel from surrounding nations and affirm that God’s covenant shapes even grooming habits.
2. Priestly Representation: The anointed beard of Aaron links ministerial office with visible signs of the Spirit’s consecration.
3. Honor Culture: Narrative episodes illustrate that to disgrace a man’s beard was to insult his identity; to restore his beard was to restore dignity.
4. Prophetic Teaching Aids: Shaving the beard served as a dramatic enactment of impending devastation, demonstrating that prophetic ministry harnesses everyday symbols to convey God’s word.

Christological and Pastoral Reflections

The Servant Song hints at Messiah’s suffering when His beard is plucked (Isaiah 50:6, using a different term), foretelling a humiliation greater than any described in the Old Testament narratives. Pastors may thus emphasize that the shame borne in the face of Christ redeems believers from ultimate disgrace and restores the honor symbolized by the full beard in Scripture.

Contemporary Application

While the ceremonial aspects of the law have found fulfillment in Christ, the enduring principles remain:
• Bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, so grooming practices should reflect holiness, not vanity or pagan symbolism.
• Honor and respect between men—and between leaders and those they serve—ought to reflect the same care Scripture associates with the beard.
• Public symbols still communicate spiritual realities; believers should steward their appearance to glorify God and edify others.

Related Concepts

Shaving, anointing oil, priesthood, uncleanness, mourning rites, prophetic sign-acts, shame and honor.

Forms and Transliterations

בְזָקָֽן׃ בִּזְקַ֥ן בִּזְקָנ֔וֹ בזקן בזקן׃ בזקנו הַזָּקָ֖ן הַזָּקָ֥ן הזקן וּזְקָנִ֔י וזקני זְקַֽן־ זְקַנְכֶ֖ם זְקָנֶ֑ךָ זְקָנֶֽךָ׃ זְקָנָ֔ם זְקָנָ֖ם זְקָנֽוֹ׃ זְקָנוֹ֙ זָקָ֖ן זָקָ֛ן זקן זקן־ זקנו זקנו׃ זקנך זקנך׃ זקנכם זקנם ḇə·zā·qān ḇəzāqān biz·qā·nōw biz·qan bizKan bizkaNo bizqan bizqānōw haz·zā·qān hazzaKan hazzāqān ū·zə·qā·nî uzekaNi ūzəqānî vezaKan zā·qān zaKan zāqān zə·qā·nām zə·qā·ne·ḵā zə·qā·nōw zə·qan- zə·qan·ḵem zekan zekaNam zekanChem zekaNecha zekaNo zəqan- zəqānām zəqāneḵā zəqanḵem zəqānōw

Englishman's Concordance

Leviticus 13:29
HEB: בְּרֹ֖אשׁ א֥וֹ בְזָקָֽן׃
NAS: on the head or on the beard,
KJV: upon the head or the beard;
INT: the head or the beard

Leviticus 13:30
HEB: הָרֹ֛אשׁ א֥וֹ הַזָּקָ֖ן הֽוּא׃
NAS: of the head or of the beard.
KJV: upon the head or beard.
INT: of the head or of the beard he

Leviticus 14:9
HEB: רֹאשׁ֤וֹ וְאֶת־ זְקָנוֹ֙ וְאֵת֙ גַּבֹּ֣ת
NAS: his head and his beard and his eyebrows,
KJV: off his head and his beard and his eyebrows,
INT: his hair his head and his beard top affliction

Leviticus 19:27
HEB: אֵ֖ת פְּאַ֥ת זְקָנֶֽךָ׃
NAS: harm the edges of your beard.
KJV: the corners of thy beard.
INT: harm the edges of your beard

Leviticus 21:5
HEB: בְּרֹאשָׁ֔ם וּפְאַ֥ת זְקָנָ֖ם לֹ֣א יְגַלֵּ֑חוּ
NAS: the edges of their beards, nor
KJV: the corner of their beard, nor make
INT: their heads the edges of their beards nor shave

1 Samuel 17:35
HEB: עָלַ֔י וְהֶחֱזַ֙קְתִּי֙ בִּזְקָנ֔וֹ וְהִכִּתִ֖יו וַהֲמִיתִּֽיו׃
NAS: me, I seized [him] by his beard and struck
KJV: against me, I caught [him] by his beard, and smote
INT: against seized his beard and struck and killed

1 Samuel 21:14
HEB: רִיר֖וֹ אֶל־ זְקָנֽוֹ׃
INT: spittle about beard

2 Samuel 10:4
HEB: אֶת־ חֲצִ֣י זְקָנָ֔ם וַיִּכְרֹ֧ת אֶת־
NAS: half of their beards, and cut off
KJV: the one half of their beards, and cut off
INT: and shaved half of their beards and cut their garments

2 Samuel 10:5
HEB: עַד־ יְצַמַּ֥ח זְקַנְכֶ֖ם וְשַׁבְתֶּֽם׃
NAS: until your beards grow,
KJV: at Jericho until your beards be grown,
INT: until grow your beards and return

2 Samuel 20:9
HEB: יְמִ֥ין יוֹאָ֛ב בִּזְקַ֥ן עֲמָשָׂ֖א לִנְשָׁק־
NAS: Amasa by the beard with his right
KJV: Amasa by the beard with the right
INT: his right Joab the beard Amasa to kiss

1 Chronicles 19:5
HEB: אֲשֶׁר־ יְצַמַּ֥ח זְקַנְכֶ֖ם וְשַׁבְתֶּֽם׃
NAS: until your beards grow,
KJV: at Jericho until your beards be grown,
INT: after grow your beards and return

Ezra 9:3
HEB: מִשְּׂעַ֤ר רֹאשִׁי֙ וּזְקָנִ֔י וָאֵשְׁבָ֖ה מְשׁוֹמֵֽם׃
NAS: from my head and my beard, and sat down
KJV: of my head and of my beard, and sat down
INT: of the hair my head and my beard and sat appalled

Psalm 133:2
HEB: יֹרֵ֗ד עַֽל־ הַזָּקָ֥ן זְקַֽן־ אַהֲרֹ֑ן
NAS: down upon the beard, [Even] Aaron's
KJV: that ran down upon the beard, [even] Aaron's
INT: Coming upon the beard beard Aaron's

Psalm 133:2
HEB: עַֽל־ הַזָּקָ֥ן זְקַֽן־ אַהֲרֹ֑ן שֶׁ֝יֹּרֵ֗ד
NAS: [Even] Aaron's beard, Coming down
KJV: [even] Aaron's beard: that went down
INT: upon the beard beard Aaron's down

Isaiah 7:20
HEB: וְגַ֥ם אֶת־ הַזָּקָ֖ן תִּסְפֶּֽה׃ ס
NAS: and it will also remove the beard.
KJV: and it shall also consume the beard.
INT: of the legs will also the beard remove

Isaiah 15:2
HEB: קָרְחָ֔ה כָּל־ זָקָ֖ן גְּרוּעָֽה׃
NAS: is bald [and] every beard is cut off.
KJV: [shall be] baldness, [and] every beard cut off.
INT: is bald every beard is cut

Jeremiah 41:5
HEB: אִ֔ישׁ מְגֻלְּחֵ֥י זָקָ֛ן וּקְרֻעֵ֥י בְגָדִ֖ים
NAS: and from Samaria with their beards shaved off
KJV: men, having their beards shaven,
INT: men shaved their beards torn and their clothes

Jeremiah 48:37
HEB: קָרְחָ֔ה וְכָל־ זָקָ֖ן גְּרֻעָ֑ה עַ֤ל
NAS: and every beard cut short;
KJV: [shall be] bald, and every beard clipped:
INT: is bald and every beard cut on

Ezekiel 5:1
HEB: רֹאשְׁךָ֖ וְעַל־ זְקָנֶ֑ךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ֥ לְךָ֛
NAS: on your head and beard. Then take
KJV: upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take
INT: your head and and beard take scales

19 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 2206
19 Occurrences

biz·qan — 1 Occ.
biz·qā·nōw — 1 Occ.
haz·zā·qān — 3 Occ.
ū·zə·qā·nî — 1 Occ.
ḇə·zā·qān — 1 Occ.
zā·qān — 3 Occ.
zə·qan- — 1 Occ.
zə·qā·nām — 2 Occ.
zə·qan·ḵem — 2 Occ.
zə·qā·ne·ḵā — 2 Occ.
zə·qā·nōw — 2 Occ.